Pig Spotted In Portland

I was reminded this afternoon of a wonderful meal enjoyed recently in New York, at The Spotted Pig. Strangely, two memories drifted back today, once while crossing Congress Street and then again while reading a New York Times magazine article about Boulder, CO. While crossing Congress I noticed that the window of Evangeline, formerly Uffa, has the same logo of The Spotted Pig -- a pig. The NY Times article about Boulder talked at length of bohemian lifestyles -- which is how I characterized the crowd at the Spotted Pig. New York Magazine called the Spotted Pig "New York's official gastro pub." Put simply, a gastro pub serves fresh and delicious fare, not the factory made, ready to fry stuff, available at 99% of all pubs and bars.

The chef of Evangeline is Erik Desjarlais; owner of Bandol and Ladle. If his food is half as good as the cuisine at Spotted Pig, he can claim that he used a pig on his sign first. I'll never say a word about it again. I would love for nothing more than this genius chef to make it.

Back to the Spotted Pig -- for everyone who loves good fun food, you need to try this place. The food was sensational. The scene was equally interesting. We arrived at 9 P.M. and were told it would be at least an hour for a table. With luck, we snagged seats at the bar. A crowd, maybe hundreds of people, continued to flow through the restaurant for the next two hours. To the left of us were two punk rockers. To the right, stock brokers who had not yet returned home from the office. Twenty-something's mingled with fancy blue-hairs. It was a sight to behold.

The food was exactly what had been described to me by Kathy Gunst. An eclectic mix -- items your mom made for picnics with cuisine that would satisfy Thomas Keller. Our order went like this. We started with Deviled Egg ($3), Chicken Liver Toast ($5.50), Marinated Olives ($2.50) and Roll Mops ($7.50) -- Roll Mops are pickled sardines. We could have stopped there. The portions were sized well and the flavors were so fresh, full and varied, that they were almost overwhelming. Our meal completed with a Jerusalem Artichoke Salad with Goat Cheese and Hazelnuts ($16), Roasted Fennel & Goat Cheese Tart ($16), Fried Duck Egg & Bacon Salad ($17). Our neighbor at the bar insisted that we try a side of Brussels Sprouts ($7). The sprouts were so sweet it served as our dessert.

We left after two hours our dining and chatting with some seriously interesting people. We had a blast. I can't recommend the Spotted Pig enough.

I just clicked on Erik Desjarlais blog about getting ready to open Evangeline. His March 28 comment tries to remind all of us about how hard chefs work to make ends meet. That we need to buy local and support he and his peers. He's right. Portland's restaurateurs deserve our support. The winning chefs in our market have earned our support. Erik's working hard to earn our support, too. So I hope you will all be there with me in line the night that the public is invited to try Evangeline